The past month has been a nightmare of sorts for the residents of Rande talao area of Virar. A woman, who appears to be mentally challenged, has not only been robbing them of their wealth, but also of their mental peace. However, their repeated requests to the police to arrest her fell on deaf ears, as every time they caught hold of the woman and handed her over to the cops, she would be back in action the next day. Left with no other option, on Saturday night just when the cops were about to release the woman once again, the locals gathered outside the police station and created a ruckus to get her arrested.

Caught red-handedAccording to the residents, once they had caught the woman – Pinky Segar – red-handed, while she was stealing something from a house. They had even beaten her up to teach her a lesson. Thereafter, she was handed over to the local police. Unfortunately, the cops let her off after a couple of minutes, sighting the reason that she was suffering from some mental disorder and that also she had a small kid to look after. A local resident said, "When the police did not pay any heed to our requests, we decided to teach Pinky a lesson. We tied her and beat her up, but even then she did not stop robbing us. We had no other option as the cops were of no help."

Time to actSpeaking to mid-day, another resident Ganesh Purab said, "This time we did not let the police set her free. We pelted stones at the police station, only after which they arrested the woman."

When asked why Pinky was let off time and again, deputy superintendent of police Anil Akade said, "We arrested her every time she was brought to the police station, but she managed to get bail the same day. This time she has been arrested under the charge of section 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) of IPC."

She bites herselfWhen contacted, superintendent of police Shraddha Raut said, "The first time she was brought to the police station, we had handed her over to her husband, as she appears to be mentally challenged. We had arrested her another time, but she managed to get bail then. She creates a scene in the police station and even bites herself at times. We have got in touch with an NGO and asked them to ensure that she undergoes treatment."